Eugene Weekly : Feature : 4.21.11

Article |
February 23, 2012 - 9:58pm

Nonnatives and Invasives: The good,the bad and the uglyNonnative species ã bad. Native species ãgood.

Well mostly. Not all nonnatives invade, and some are beneficial. You dont hear the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife complaining about hordes of daffodils taking over the wetlands, but you do hear about people working to restore Oregon oak savannas fighting those (native) Douglas firs invading like the Ents of the Lord of the Rings gone bad. Those bees and earthworms gardeners love? Not native. The wolves returning to Oregon that ranchers are railing against? Well, wolves once were native. For Earth Day, EW explores nonnatives and invasives from mute swans ã not silent but perhaps deadly ãto carp and crawdads to look at what is making its way into our state and what these animals bring to the table, sometimes literally. ã Camilla Mortensen